One of the first things you have to realize when going off into the sunset is that what lies there has been grossly misrepresented over the years... Most cruisers these days are more interested in finding a K-Mart or a place to stock up on Hellmans mayo rather than stealing the jewel eyes of Tiki gods or searching for the lost location of the isle of love hungry Vahines and, of course, the saving of island virgins from being fed to a volcano...
Damn!
That said, I think all of us of a certain age were warped and molded by "Adventures in Paradise" with Gardner McKay. It's a stone cold fact that without "AIP" more than likely I'd be a fat middle-aged investment manager whose biggest excitement would be to maybe hit par on some golf course (golf being in my purview a bit less exciting than watching paint dry so I owe Gardner McKay a lot) without a falling spar in sight!
Jimmy Buffett, of course, heard the "AIP" siren call and followed it, or maybe more to the point, he recreated it and made it his own when he found that the call had grown so quiet it needed to be amped up and rebroadcast...
On the Tiki thing... Seriously I've always felt it was a good thing to have Tikis on boats. They feel right.
For those of a like mind you really should take a look at the work by the Southern California artist Bosko who really has an excellent handle on the whole Tiki thing. Not only does he do stuff like Tiki mugs but does custom Tiki moldings which would look awesome on "So It Goes"
Lots and lots of neat stuff...
Plus don't miss the short film about Bosko as well.
The 4th of July for me has always meant beach, surfboards and Tiki drinks...
When I was a kid, the whole Tiki bar thing was quite the rage and seriously hip. In these modern times the whole Tiki fad is looked down on by many as a pinnacle of kitsch but it was a LOT of fun, and I'll go on record as saying we could always use a whole lot more FUN!
Plus let's get real... What better place to have your very own movable Tiki Bar than an ocean-going sail boat?
Of course to do it right you need LOTS of RUM! Lucky for us that down here in the Caribbean you can buy a good rum for less than $4 a liter (and you'd be dumb-as-nails to use anything better for Tiki drinks) various fruit juices and some serious Tiki mugs...
I mean you really do need the Tiki mugs as they strike just the right note and the whole point of the excercise is striking the right note! Of course you can always use coconuts and hollowed out pineapples but for me Tiki mugs are the serious stuff (and who wants to waste good drinking time hollowing out a pineapple?).
Of course you need the recipes because, while most things on boats are not rocket science, mixology of the Tiki variety IS and before you are ready to come up with your own special signature Tiki/Boat drink it is best to spend a bit of time learning from the masters and working on the classics!
"Sipping Safari" is a great place to start but any of the Beachbum Berry books will do...
I would be remiss in not mentioning that for a proper on-board Tiki party that the old T-shirt is something of a faux pas and that at the least a real Aloha shirt is the minimum for Tiki chic (leis however are considered to be something of an over kill)!
I'm never sure whether to describe myself as a film maker who sails or a sailor/boatbuilder who makes films...Either way I'm a pretty happy camper when all is said and done.
